Yvonne Farrell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yvonne Farrell
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Farrell in 2015
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| Born | 1951 (age 73–74) |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin |
| Occupation | Architect |
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Notable work
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The Röntgen Building |
| Awards | Pritzker Architecture Prize (with Shelley McNamara) |
Yvonne Farrell (born in 1951) is a famous Irish architect and teacher. She started a design company called Grafton Architects with her partner, Shelley McNamara.
Their company won the World Building of the Year award in 2008 for their amazing Bocconi University building in Milan, Italy. They also won the first-ever RIBA International Prize in 2016 for their university building in Lima, Peru. In 2020, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which is one of the highest awards an architect can receive!
Career Highlights
Farrell studied architecture at University College Dublin and finished her degree in 1974. In 1977, she and Shelley McNamara opened their own architecture firm, Grafton Architects, in Dublin. She also helped start Group 91, which worked to make the Temple Bar area of Dublin look new and exciting in the 1990s.
Grafton Architects showed their designs at the Venice Biennale (a big art and architecture show) in 2002 and again in 2008. Their Bocconi University project in Milan was a huge success. It won the World Building of the Year Award in 2008 and has been shown all over the world. In 2009, their Department of Finance building in Dublin won the Civic Trust Award. It also received a special award from the Architectural Association of Ireland.
Yvonne Farrell has been teaching at University College Dublin since 1976. She has also been a visiting professor at the Architecture Academy in Mendrisio, Switzerland, since 2008. In 2010, she taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She currently teaches at the EPFL in Lausanne. She has given many talks at architecture schools in Europe and America.
Farrell is a respected member of many important groups. She is a fellow of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. She is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. She is an elected member of Aosdána, which is an Irish group for artists. In 2015, she received an award from University College Dublin for her work in architecture. In 2019, both she and Shelley McNamara received honorary degrees from NUI Galway and Trinity College Dublin.
In 2020, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. They were only the fourth and fifth women ever to receive this prestigious award. In 2022, they also won The Daylight Award for their amazing use of natural light in their buildings.
Key Projects
- Grafton Building (Universita Luigi Bocconi), 2008, Milan, Italy
- Department of Finance, 2009, Dublin, Ireland
- Institut Mines Telecom, 2019, Paris Saclay, France
- Toulouse School of Economics, 2019, Toulouse, France
